Individual Entry: Syriana
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December 16, 2005

Movies : Syriana

Americans today have been raised on a steady diet of episodic television in which any problem, no matter how complex, can be solved in 30 or 60 minutes. They have been trained by politicians that the solution to any problem can be expressed in a single memorable phrase. They have been prepared by the news media to expect a clear division between "the good guys" and "the bad guys".

Therefore I can say with great confidence that while the movie Syriana is an excellent film that deserves all of the critical praise it is getting, it will almost certainly be a commercial flop because the movie represents everything Americans don't want to hear – that there are problems that defy explanation, must less solution; and that the goodness and badness of real people and real governments tend to be more of a matter of degree than an absolute.

The movie itself is complex – presented as a sequence of puzzle pieces that only partially fit together by the end; and it is left to the audience to decide what the final picture is. The few negative reviews I have read all come back to the critic not understanding the movie. It is a movie that begs to be seen with a friend, with a cup of coffee planned afterwards to discuss what it meant. I would certainly encourage anyone who is willing to engage their brain while watching a movie to see Syriana.

Oh, and what do I think the movie means to say? That would be telling…..

Posted by Steven at December 16, 2005 07:28 PM

Comments

Exactly what a movie should be - not 'check your brain' but as you so aptly put it 'engage your brain.'

I'd rather go see this than yet another Kong. But YAK will win the dollars race by an order of magnitude.

Posted by: roland at December 19, 2005 09:25 AM

Yeah, I've seen the new Kong too - just not much to say about it. It is well made, well acted, etc.; but it doesn't really say anything that would justify having done the remake

Posted by: Steven at December 19, 2005 07:46 PM

Went to see Syriana twice in two days, because a friend commented on it (from reviews) so wrongly that I offered to buy him in and watch it with him.

Seen twice, it gets better.

What's it about? Evolutionary Psychology says it's about how things have to be: Human WILL feed the kids, and if one human gets over another, will kill him with no compunction, religion notwithstanding, and likely aiding. Capitalism is a religion, as is libertarian theosophy. Ideological thinking, making things fit the mold, taken to the scale we live in, of 6 billion scrabbling monkeys with bombs and guns, gives you the state Syriana evokes. It can't be more than an evocation and still leave you functional. It's a movie to recover from...

Posted by: Ormond Otvos at December 27, 2005 11:45 PM

"It's a movie to recover from..." ... Yeah, that about sums it up.

Obviously (as a person of faith) I disagree that Evolutionary Psychology is a complete description of who we are; but it does fairly well describe what we are capable of.

Posted by: Steven at December 28, 2005 09:12 AM